Hats Off To Preston – We Had To Graft And Battle For 3 Points

Another league game and another 3 points, so the goal was achieved yesterday, even through we had some luck in the game and we were far from our best.

But on the other hand our players ground out what was an excellent result yesterday against a good in-form side.

23 year-old American DeAndre Yedlin had another strong game at the eight-back and this lad is looking more and more like a great acquisition for the club.

DeAndre Yedlin – in action Preston It’s an ongoing battle with Vurnon Anita as to who starts at right-back, but DeAndre is thankful to Vurnon for teaching him the ropes of the position; Vurnon played at full-back quite a few times during his time at Dutch giants Ajax.

DeAndre was interviewed on the Newcastle web-site after the game:

“Obviously, it’s always great to start, and at the end of the day I want to do whatever I can to help the team,”

“You’re battling for a place in the team against a guy like Vurnon with so much experience, and I’m trying to learn as much as I can from him, so I’m sure that we’ll keep switching starts.”

“He’s a guy that I’ve already learned a lot from, so I’m very pleased to be able to work with him on a day-in, day-out basis.”

“Hats off to Preston – they made it very difficult for us, and they played a good game,”

“They’re strong defensively and they played their game, with long balls and playing in behind us, and it was difficult to play against.”

“You do what you’ve got to do, especially in this league. We had to graft and battle, and that’s what we did today, and we came away with three points.”

“I think we did very well in the end.”

“There was a couple of dodgy plays that obviously you never want to happen when you’re in that situation.”

“But we held out and we worked hard, and got those three points that we needed.”

“We have to keep working hard in training and keep doing what we’re doing on the pitch.”

Yedlin has already appeared 10 times for Newcastle with one goal.

The 2-1 win with another two goals courtesy of 22 year-old Aleksandar Mitrovic was enough to keep Newcastle 3 points clear at the top of the Championship.

Pos

Team

Games

GD

Points

1

Newcastle

46

45

94

2

Brighton

46

34

93

3

Reading

46

4

85

4

Sheffield Wednesday

46

15

81

5

Huddersfield

46

-2

81

6

Fulham

46

28

80

Next up are Cardiff City at St. James’ Park next Saturday afternoon and we just must win that game before the long two week International break.

19 comments so far

Beer, You’d hope so…. But there were plenty before Rodwell and Sinclair, yet they still made the move.

ToF, I’m far from a Rafa disciple, and I have questioned a number of things during his tenure here, and will continue to when I feel he has got something wrong, just like most fans at most clubs would. His time at Madrid was hardly a humiliation though. I haven’t read the article, could you give a summary of what they describe as the myth?

I’m a big Rafa fan. He’s the sort of manager I think we should always have, but rarely get, but so far he’s done what you’d expect from a manager of his calibre with the resources he’s been given. He deserves great respect, but adulation won’t be earned till we are entrenched in the top 8 and win a Cup, as we should.

Jimmy….Jimmy, Why wouldn’t the club take the cash in Jan? I reckon if that sort of bid came in then, it would definitely be considered and quite possibly accepted on the basis that the money could be banked and Hanley, Mbemba and Clark would be more than enough to see us up. Add Dummet to that as a group of centre halves with Lazaar, Haidara and Gamez covering the left back role.

That doesn’t mean Rafa would want to, again, it comes down to how much control Rafa has, and whether he can refuse bids that are multiple times more than a player was signed for.

Yeah, I agree, he could go in January, if the bid is high enough, but against that the club has appeared to have taken no chances since the drop in ensuring we go straight back, and selling Lascelles would represent something of a risk.

I do think Dummett is a decent 4th choice though, and we have plenty of depth at fullback too.

when we bought the pair from forest pearce got the hump as he reckond both would be worth more in a year or2 now we could be in the same position this is where rafa can earn his money on transfers do you take 18 20 mill now or wait a year or 2 cos ifhe keeps getting better and proves his worth in the prem you could prob double the what we would get now

The club of course would be taking a huge risk in trying to force the sale of a player if Rafa didn’t want to sell, so I don’t see that happening. Up to now though Rafa has been entirely pragmatic. The club has little reason and little to gain in questioning his judgement at this stage. He’s barely put a foot wrong.

Beer, Yeah, possibly, or he could also regress and we never see a similar offer ever again. You could look at the alleged Tiote transfer rumours as a reason why the club would take the offer.

Again, it is how much influence Rafa has and is able to exert. If we believe he has final say, did he therefore want rid of Sissoko? He said he didn’t, but the price was right. Why wouldn’t it be the same with Lascelles, whichever version is correct.

Jimmy…..Jimmy, Would Rafa be being pragmatic when offered £18million for a centre half who can be covered for this season, and then have the opportunity to add that cash to the summer funds for a centre half and other signings?

Haha am just reading some more of Kirsten Schlewitz pieces…shes a interesting writer not someone I will read more of I will admit, not the cheeriest of people

She does not like Rafa though its fair to say…Or Ronaldo….or Bale….or Pep and Rummenigge….she likes gifs though as long as they are mocking Burnley getting relegated so thats sort of positive I suppose?

He might think Lascelles can be the bedrock of our epl defence, and have no interest at all in selling. Who knows what he’s thinking, but from what I’ve seen of Lascelles, 18 million would be food for thought. I’d be very surprised should the club try to force a sale against his wishes though. This isn’t Alan Pardew we’re talking about here.

Hardly been home last two days, just caught up with the various comments.

1 I think Anita will get an extended contract, if he wants one. 2. I think that the present squad would survive and even prosper when we go up this season. Although I’m certain new players will be bought in.

3. Yes we are sticking Rafa on a pedestal and I can’t see him falling off it. He’s bought a ray of sunshine into our dreary former 5 or so years.

The next transfer window does not open till January 2017, two months from now. Rafa is probably more concerned about who he can add to his squad, than who he would wish to sell. Especially his team captain! If it turns out that Ashley can ‘instruct’ Rafa to sell a player, he has ‘just’ about enough football knowledge to realise 18M£ is way under value for Lascelles. In two months time Lascelles will be worth a lot more to Premier League clubs either pushing for Europe or avoiding relegation. Fast forward to the summer transfer window, what price the captain of a record breaking Championship winning team. Rafa won’t sell without a replacement lined up. Townsend/Richie comes to mind…

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